Safety attachment for tanks



- J. -COHN SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR TANKS Jan. 19 1926.

Filed July 26 1924 'Elwwtbd z;

Jacob ['ohn 5 Patented Jan. 19, 1926 UNITED STATES 1,570,461 PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB COHN, OF'NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO NON-EXPLOSI-VE CORPORATION OF AMERICA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

i SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR' TANKS.

Application filed July an, 1924. Serial No. 728,336.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB GOHN', a citizen of Germany, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Attachments for Tanks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description'of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it apper-- 'tains to make and use the same.

for the purpose of making adjustments, re-

pairs and replacement of parts. i

A further object of; the invention lies in providing an attachment for tanks of this character in which the margin of safety will be high and in 'which any conflagration will be prevented from spreading to the contents of the tank.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be moreparticularlypointed out in the claims appended hereto. I

In the drawings, wherein like symbols re,- fer to like or corresponding parts through the several views:

Figure lis a vertical section through a portion of a tank and an improved safety attachment constructed according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the attachment in assembled condition;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the valve; and.

Figure 4 is a similar viewof the cap showing the valve seat.

Referring more. particularly to the drawings, 5 designates the'tank wall having the opening about which extends the filling neck 6, which 'is externally threaded.

According to the invention the attachmentforms a unit supported from the bushing30 composed in part of an intermediate" substantially horizontal ring 31 adapted to I lie over the upper end of the filling neck 6. A depending flange 10 from the ring 31 is internally threaded to cooperate with 60 the threads upon the filling neck in order that the bushing may be secured tightly in place and a washer 32 is preferably interposed between the ring 31 and the upper edge of thefilling neck to avoid the escape of fumes and gases from the tank except under the control of the relief "valve, as hereinafter described. The ring 31 also provides convenient attachment whereby the flange 10 may be screwed and unscrewed from the neck and to this end, said ring is preferably made with straight faces, as for instance of the hexagonal shape shown in Fig. 2, to receive a wrench. The inner edge of the ring 31 carries a skirt 7, which is annular in form and which is spaced inward ly from the flange 10, said skirt depending down into theneck 6 and adapted to receive the safety cylinder which is composed preferably' in part of the perforated metal 8 and the mesh 9. The safety cylinder is secured in the skirt as for instance by pressingthe material thereof into the annular groove 33 in the outer surface ofthe skirt. Sufiicient space is left between the skirt 7 and the filling neck ,6 to insert the safety cylinder into the tank without having to squeeze it through thefilling neck or without requiring that the cylinder, which is essentially of a relatively delicate nature, be injured by striking it against any of the rigid parts.

The bushing further comprises the up-' standing collar 11, which rises approximately co-axial with the filling neck. External threads 13 are provided upon the outer portion of the collar 11 and the inner sur-' faceof the flange 12 of the cap 14, which HEISSUED 36 in the cap 14:, the cap being enlarged as indicated at 37 in Fig. 1, in order to reinforce the material at this point andto provide an abutment against which the upper end of the coil spring 21 operates. The coil surface of the depressed part 37 of the spring iswound in a suitable number of convolutions about the valve post 18 and is secured at its lower end to the valve post, 'so that the function of this spring is to urge the valve to a closed position shown in Fig. 1. The depressed surface 37 of the ca 14: immediately adjacent the lower part 0 the valve seat and spaced slightly therebelow is formed with a number of openings 16 to permit the pressure within the tank to ascend into contact with the lower surface of the valve 35 as shown in Fig. 1. A chamber 38 is shown to exist between the lower surface of the valve and the up er v lve cap, so that although the pressure is led into the chamber *381at spaced pointswhere the perforations 16 are located, nevertheless the effect 'of the pressure is felt uniformly throughout all surface parts of the valve 35, and thevalve is lifted evenly from its seat to permit of the escape of pressure, when such pressure accumulates to a degree to overbalance the spring 21. The spring is selected to be of a strength required by local conditions. In the use of the device, the attachment is mounted upon the tank as shown in Fig. 1 by simply causing such device to replace the usual closure cap. The safety cylinder extends into the tank and any gases and fumes accumulating must pass through the foraminous and reticulated walls of the cyllnder. Once within the cylinder these gases ascend freely into the interior of the bushing where the gasesare trapped, and itwil'l be obvious that because of the length of the skirt 7 and of the collar 11 a chamber of substantial depth is provided for holding gases of consi erable mass and volume under a relatively great head. Of course, this head -is regulated by the load of the spring 21, but the gases will be trapped within the large chamber in the bushing, as this chamber is higher than the tank and the gases will not escape back to the tank, and should these gases become ignited for any reason, the conflagration will be prevented fromv spreading back to the contents of the tank, because of the fora'minous and reticulated safety cylinder. As. the pressure ascends above the predetermined degree, the valve replaced and as liquid is drawn 0 filling operation grooves 23 are made longitudinally in the side walls of the skirt 7., which permits air to be forced out of the tank by the incoming liquid without interference from the filling nozzle.

After removal of the nozzle the ca from the tankair may enter through the perforation-22 in the valve to avoid the formation of a partial vacuum which would interfere with the drawing off of the contents.

The device lends itself particularly to use with gasoline tanks where the liquid is extremely volatile and inflammable. I

It is obvious that various changes and modificationsmay be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention Without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope claims.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 desire-to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: w I

1. A safety attachment for tanks having a filling neck comprisi a bushing secure to said filling neck, a oraminous cylinder carried by said bushing, a ca secured upon said bushing and having a va ve seat with a depressed portion below'the inner lower ed 0 of the valve seat'providing a chamber, said chamber having communication through said depressed portion by a passage of relatively limited area, a valve having an edge adapted to close against said seat, and means for yieldably holding said valve against its seat.

2. A safety attachment for tanks having filling necks comprising a bushing having removable attachment to said filling neck, a screen cylinder carried by said bushing and extending into the tank, a cap removably secured upon the outer portion of said bushing and having a conical valve seat upon its v upper surface with a depressed portion just below the inner lower edge of the valve seat providing a chamber, said chamber having communication with the interior of the screen cylinder through said de ressed portion by a passage of relatively limited area, a valve having a conical valve seat fitting against said conical valve seat of the cap, and resilient means for yieldably holding said valve against its seat.

of the following 1 3. A safety attachment for tanks com prising a bushing removably secured to the tank and having an n standing collar housing an enlarged gas c amber in communica- 5 tion with the interior of the tank, a skirt on said bushing, a screen cylinder carried by said skirt, a cap removably secured to said collar andhaving an extensive gently sloping conical seat, with a slightly depressed ortion 10 below the inner edge of the seat rovlding a chamber, said last-named cham er having communication with said enlarged gas chamher through said depressed portion by a passage 0 relatively limited area, a valve having a gently slop ing ground surface adapted to rest on sai seat, the lower surface of said valve when closed adapted to be spaced from said deipressed portion, and means carried by sai cap for yieldably holding the valve seated. 1

JACOB COHNQ 

